Assorted Ravings and Rantings on Music #4

 Assorted Ravings and Rantings on Music

Entry #4

Stone Flower - Antonio Carlos Jobim

I got to confess that I do not find Jobim the level of genius that some people consider him too. Like some people speak of him as if he was a musical god, and yes, he is able to often come up with really beautiful soundscapes and really fun musical ideas. Wave is an album I find moving and serene and uniquely beautiful, and the fact I can remember how almost every song goes and still appreciate the whole album as a whole speaks to how great he is. Yet, bossanova is a genre that does verge on easy listening at times, which both Joao and Jobim generally do not sound easy listening to me. But generally, there needs to be enough inspiration so that it pulls it above that level. Thankfully, I am starting to really get into this record. There are a lot of really cool ideas on this record, and this album is definitely rich with variety that some might want from an album like Wave. At least, I am enjoying all the songs are individual entities rather than extensions of the same sonic universe. Well, actually I take it back about not appreciating Jobim's genius, I really do because both Wave and this album are beautiful and rich with musical ideas that do have an effect on me. It's just I don't think these albums fully transcend the limitations of their genre. They just happen to be some of the finest albums of the genre. Though Stone Flower is really endearing itself to me, that's for sure.

 The Best of Little Walter - Little Walter

Every day I get more stunned by his genius. Even though Sonny Boy is inarguably the greatest in terms of dynamic range and personality, in pure guttural power, nobody outblows Little Watler. This motherfucker plays his harp more intensely than some hard rock guitarists. Like have you heard the jump scares on "Blue Light"? That stuff is scary!

Doo Wop Box - Disc 3

The third disc represents doo-wop’s golden age? Then why are there only like 6-7 singles worth keeping out of 25? Or, lemme put it this way, only 6-7 of them stand out at all. I will say that this disc does have a slightly higher level of classics overall and a higher bar, but I still can’t agree with most revisionists on this: most doo-wop is dated. I would rather hear a doo-wop song than most modern R&B I’ve heard, but compared to everything great that came out of the decade in R&B, just most of this doesn’t sound all that interesting. Even if I assemble a best of these last three discs, it is STILL shorter than even one of these discs. I will continue to power through the box though since I am almost done, and hey, maybe I'll get around to finishing up doo-wop reviews to finish that list.